Social Studies

In 1906 in America it was first discovered that humans could transmit typhoid fever. This is a dramatization of the outbreak and a profile of Irish cook Mary Mallon, known as 'Typhoid Mary'. Quarantined against her will, the story reveals the newfound power of health officials to protect the masses, often at the expense of personal liberties

Seldom has society come full circle in the cycle of a disease- from illness, to epidemic, to cure. Polio is the 20th century's most notable exception. First appearing in the United States in 1916, the disease crippled tens of thousands of children every summer until it was finally eradicated by the Salk vaccine beginning in 1954.

What can we learn from other cultures about food and nutrition? Some countries share our love for food yet manage to avoid our epidemic of obesity. How do they do it? By studying how other cultures eat, we can gain some useful (and tasty) ideas to adapt to our own needs.

One result of increased global trade and travel is that we all have multi-cultural stomachs. This video examines the multi-cultural origins of many foods and unearths a few surprises. Viewers learn chili isn't Mexican, spaghetti and meatballs is uniquely American, chop suey doesn't exist in China, and sauerkraut was a Chinese invention.

The Digital Commons Network brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, the Network includes a growing collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work.

Americans' right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.

The National Football League, a multibillion-dollar commercial juggernaut, presides over America's indisputable national pastime. But the NFL is under assault as thousands of former players claim the league has covered up football's connection to long-term brain injuries.

Learn about the native Hawaiian approach to gender diversity, the power of cultural heritage, and the true meaning of aloha – love, honor and respect for all – in this short film about an eleven year-old girl who dreams of leading the all-male hula troupe at her school in Honolulu. She's fortunate that her teacher understands the traditional Hawaiian embrace of māhū - those who are “in the middle” between male and female. Together they set out to prove that what matters most is what's inside a person's heart and mind. For further background and materials to support student understanding of the issue see the Classroom Discussion Guide.

For forty years, four-foot-tall filmmaker Steven Delano has lived his life as a reluctant celebrity, disavowing his dwarf deviance and avoiding both the benefits and potential traumas of real self-discovery. In making this film Steven uses his license-of-stature and a healthy dose of irreverent humor to show first-hand how a genetic mutation marks a person for life. This resource group includes three clips associated with the film, as well as a related activity.

If you're like us, you love watching Game of Thrones, but you may not have cable. In this case, how are we watching this amazing show on HBO, which is stuck behind a pay wall? A huge number of viewers are downloading the show illegally. But, despite being the most pirated show of 2012, the Game of Thrones DVDs are top sellers, breaking HBO's own sales records! Could it be that piracy is actually helping the show?

This module takes a look at a drama therapy program at a juvenile detention center for girls in Illinois. Viewers watch as the girls struggle to make sense of their own stories and how they can be used collectively to tell a transformative narrative.